Bank of Ann Arbor hires 10 as it continues steady growth streak

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It's hard to find an area where the Bank of Ann Arbor isn't growing. The downtown Ann Arbor-based bank has watched its total assets increase 43 percent over the last two years, hire 10 people over the last year, and now it plans to upgrade one bank branch on the city's northeast side and open another in downtown Saline.

So what's driving all this growth for the largest local bank in Washtenaw County?

"It's a combination of things," says Tim Marshall, president & CEO of Bank of Ann Arbor. "It's the unwavering commitment to the community and the ability to remain profitable during the downturn. Over the last few years there has been a big emphasis by the community to invest in local institutions like ours."

That's resulting in more local jobs. Bank of Ann Arbor has hired 10 people in sales and operations, expanding its workforce to 115 employees and 4-6 summer interns. Marshall expects to hire another 7-8 people by the end of this year, partly because of the bank's growing branch presence.

Bank of Ann Arbor has bought land on Michigan Avenue in downtown Saline to open a new branch this fall. The 16-year-old bank is also taking over the former Blockbuster space on Plymouth Road near the old Pfizer campus. It is moving its current branch tucked away in Traver Village to the new location for space and visibility reasons.

"We're going from several hundred square feet of space to 3,000 square feet of space," Marshall says. "We will also have frontage on Plymouth Road."

Marshall adds that Bank of Ann Arbor has also increased the amount of money it use for donations and sponsorships in the community as it has grown in recent years. In the last two years the bank's total assets have jumped $232 million to $774 million, allowing it keep giving back to its local community despite the economic downturn.